Some more reviews...
MOVIE REVIEWS (WEEK ENDING 24.09.2005)
40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN (SAMICO: 9)
If you are into crass humor and really enjoyed Wedding Crashers then here is that movie’s younger, kinkier, and hotter sister!
With more laughs than you can probably handle and never a dull moment, this film will have you rolling on the ground during certain scenes.
“Virgin” tells the story of Andy Stitzer, who has a nice life complete with an action figure collection and a cushy job at an electronics store. But the only thing is he's a 40 year old virgin who has just fallen in love with a woman, who doesn't want sex in the relationship. Uh oh!!
What was most impressive about “Virgin” was that all of the main characters had a certain depth to them and each represented something that the viewer will surely relate to.
The film is generally fast-paced and the story moves along at a prolific pace. The side-kick characters definitely add a lot of pizzazz to the presentation and are vital in their small roles.
Either you will REALLY like this film or really despise it, but give it a crack, maybe you too might start cheering for the “virgin”.
RED EYE (SAMICO: 1)
This was supposed to be a different kind of film from horror master Wes Craven. What it turned out to be was an average fare with some potential but rather shallow content.
The story revolves around an assassination plot surrounding Homeland Security Chief Keefe who is checking into a hotel where Rachel McAdams is in charge of his stay. She is met on a flight home to Miami by a mysterious man (Cillian Murphy) who decides to tell her to call her hotel and ask them to switch Keefe’s room or else at his behest someone will kill her divorced and retired father. How McAdams stalls and then eventually tries to save the chief and her father form the obvious end.
Rachel McAdams gives a good performance and Cillian Murphy is devious as the executive assassin, but apart from the suspenseful chemistry shared by our leads on the “Fresh Air” flight, there isn’t much else to wonder about the film.
The end is predictable from a mile away and its short running time of about 80 minutes means that the suffering isn’t that great.
Easily an avoidable venture, but if you must, wait for it on DVD.
THE LONGEST YARD (SAMICO: 2)
A remake of a film of the same name from the 70s, TLY doesn’t offer much in terms of variety.
Basically a story of a group of convicts who are challenged to a football game by the chief of the guards. Though no Super Bowl is at stake, pride is.
Adam Sandler breezes through the routine and fits the role well. Chris Rock is restrained and surprisingly not irritating. Burt Reynolds makes a cameo and James Cromwell rounds off a fairly illustrious cast that also includes rap-artist Nelly, wrestlers Dalip Singh and Bo Sapp, and ex-footballer Michael Irvin.
Some of the jokes are laugh-worthy but most of them are ordinary.
Watch it if you are a sports fan, an Adam Sandler fan or both, like I am.
MY WIFE’S MURDER (SAMICO: -1)
Anil Kapoor, Nandana Sen (of Black fame), newcomer director Jijy Phillips and an attention-seeking title all made for a potentially enthralling film. After watching it I would probably rename this flick “My Mind’s Murder”!!
Socially irresponsible, a poor script, and shallow underdeveloped characters make for a film that should be put in the pharmacy in the sedatives section.
Anil Kapoor does what he has done a million times and plays a man caught between a rock and a hard place. When he kills his wife by mistake he tries to hoodwink the law, his children, and even his conscience and that basically forms the last 80% of the film.
Suchitra Krishnamurthy as the annoying wife who gets murdered is in a blink-and-you-miss-me role. A far cry from the days when Shah Rukh Khan ran after her in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994) singing “Anna meri aana”, this time Krishnamurthy is deglamorised but effective.
Nandana Sen’s poor diction and even poorer pronunciation of Hindi make her annoying, and we wish the film was titled “My Wife and my Assistant’s murder”!!!
Boman Irani, as the detective investigating the crime, is the only saving grace in this otherwise torturous affair. His character with the voracious appetite and the wife who can’t cook to save her life has the meatiest role, pardon the pun. Even then Irani’s character and his obviously strained marital relationship are given a whole 2 minutes in this 110 minute venture.
Showing how the murder is carried out and how Kapoor covers it up was in my opinion rather socially irresponsible and then with the ending making it seem alright for such an occurrence adds to the social dilemma it places. As we remember the demography of this film’s viewers one wonders whether this was a good idea. I guess it could have been worse.
At no point in the film will you form a bond with any of the characters though during the last 20 minutes as Kapoor goes on the run with his two little children, it will be their peril and confusion that may tug at your heartstrings. When it’s all over you won’t be sure whether you are glad that the children are saved or that the film has actually ended.
Some parts of MWM do salvage it though. Artistically it wasn’t that bad, without any songs there were no hiccups in the narration and running at less than 2 hours was a great plus.
I would avoid this one unless you are an Anil Kapoor fan.
VIRUDDH (SAMICO: 6)
Amitabh Bachchan is back at it, showing his diversity and range and teaching the younger ones how it’s done. Mahesh Manjrekar’s latest offering is another piece that has Manjrekar written all over it.
The story is of a retired couple living in a suburb of Mumbai who deal with the death of their young son when he is murdered and then wrongly framed as a drug dealer.
Viruddh is a story very simply told and makes you feel as if you are watching your neighbor go through the plight that Vidyadhar Patwardhan (Bachchan) and his wife Sumi (brilliantly portrayed by Sharmila Tagore) are experiencing.
The first half of the film revolves around Bachchan and Tagore and their chemistry is amazing. If you are someone whose parents live apart from you and by themselves, especially in India, then this is what you are missing. The friendly fights of who didn’t take their chronic disease medication to the problems with loud, inconsiderate neighbors and the elderly group exercise sessions as well as the once-weekly phone call from the child abroad!
All scenes are so natural that for a while you do feel as if you are peering into your neighbor’s window.
The second half may be the let down of the film. It tries, unavoidably, to pack in too much into it. From the return of the son abroad (small but well-played performance by John Abraham) and his bringing home a “foreign” girl (debut performance by Australian-Indian VJ Anusha Dhanedar) to the eventual murder and wrongful framing of the son, and the inadequacies of the Indian police force make it too much to digest in the 65 minute half.
Mahesh Manjrekar is known to tackle social ills, and effectively at that, in his films. In Viruddh he gets caught between trying to depict elderly parents dealing with a tragic loss and an Indian legal system that deals with corruption in a mediocre, at best, way.
All in all though, the effort is commendable.
Amitabh Bachchan is way above the rest and he eases through this film with a sincere and restrained performance. This one might be the one to bag him an award, despite his heavyweight performances in Black, Sarkar, and Waqt. Watch especially the scene where Bachchan tries to perform laugh-therapy yoga but can’t.
Sharmila Tagore compliments Bachchan perfectly as the retired school principal who has a much stronger personality than her good-natured husband. She gives a sedate performance generally but turns it up a notch when needed to, for instance dealing with the loud mechanics.
John Abraham is charming as the son. He continues to be a very impressive performer with great versatility, and a face that probably makes razor blade companies shudder as he promotes the unshaven look. Anusha Dhanedar is tolerable in her debut film and Sanjay Dutt has a small but pivotal role which he does well.
The narration is aided by no songs, a culture that seems to be widely accepted in Indian films today, and the screenplay and cinematography are good.
Based on strong performances and good interactions between Bachchan and Tagore this is a venture worth a look-see, despite the somewhat clichéd end.
MATRUBHOOMI- A nation without women (SAMICO: -10)
Lots had been said about this art film and I was very excited when I finally, after waiting a while, obtained the DVD.
By the time I was done, and as I type this, I am trying to obtain some anti-emetics.
Many people feel taking a sensitive issue and then making a film on it guarantees the film will be appreciated and garner many awards. But when an issue such as female infanticide is presented in such an amateur and poor way, with little research, embarrassing screenplay and script, and even worse acting, it is an insult to those who have suffered the ill-effects of the topic at hand.
Matrubhoomi starts off really well, that is the first 3 minutes, and then from there on till it ends some 81 minutes later it’s all downhill and even lower and FAST.
The story revolves around the injustices inflicted upon Kalki, the only female living in a string of villages, as a result of presumed female infanticide and how she tries to overcome the perils. Her problems start when her father, for the sake of money, sells her to get married to five brothers, and while she is there she also has to withstand conjugal visits by her father-in-law too. She gets punished for trying to run away and is imprisoned in the barn with the cows. While there she gets raped multiple times by multiple persons including the brothers. Eventually she gets pregnant and that leads to confusion as to who the father is. A subplot of caste differences lead to a gang war, as different people claim fatherhood, and almost everyone but Kalki is killed off. She delivers her child, a girl (surprise surprise), in the climax.
Not only was the acting horrible but the entire script was despicable. Tulip Joshi as Kalki, the so-called protagonist, had almost NO dialogues. Her looks should have said it all, but that was asking too much.
The rest of the cast were a bunch of art film actors who made no lasting impression on anything or anyone.
The characters had little to none of exactly that. Going into anything more would be giving too much time and credit to the film’s technical department.
The backdrop seemed very unreal. Apart from Kalki, the film literally had ZERO females. I find it very hard to believe that she was the only female in that stretch of land and space.
On the DVD cover the film boasts of bagging foreign film and people’s choice awards in Italy and Poland, prompting me to wish my films, when I do make them, NEVER are given that privilege.
The only memorable moments in the film, apart from the end credits, were the scenes with the constipated priest and the low-caste servant who gave him his urine in the form of lemonade to drink.
In hindsight, if I was given the choice I might have rather drank that lemonade than watched Matrubhoomi.
40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN (SAMICO: 9)
If you are into crass humor and really enjoyed Wedding Crashers then here is that movie’s younger, kinkier, and hotter sister!
With more laughs than you can probably handle and never a dull moment, this film will have you rolling on the ground during certain scenes.
“Virgin” tells the story of Andy Stitzer, who has a nice life complete with an action figure collection and a cushy job at an electronics store. But the only thing is he's a 40 year old virgin who has just fallen in love with a woman, who doesn't want sex in the relationship. Uh oh!!
What was most impressive about “Virgin” was that all of the main characters had a certain depth to them and each represented something that the viewer will surely relate to.
The film is generally fast-paced and the story moves along at a prolific pace. The side-kick characters definitely add a lot of pizzazz to the presentation and are vital in their small roles.
Either you will REALLY like this film or really despise it, but give it a crack, maybe you too might start cheering for the “virgin”.
RED EYE (SAMICO: 1)
This was supposed to be a different kind of film from horror master Wes Craven. What it turned out to be was an average fare with some potential but rather shallow content.
The story revolves around an assassination plot surrounding Homeland Security Chief Keefe who is checking into a hotel where Rachel McAdams is in charge of his stay. She is met on a flight home to Miami by a mysterious man (Cillian Murphy) who decides to tell her to call her hotel and ask them to switch Keefe’s room or else at his behest someone will kill her divorced and retired father. How McAdams stalls and then eventually tries to save the chief and her father form the obvious end.
Rachel McAdams gives a good performance and Cillian Murphy is devious as the executive assassin, but apart from the suspenseful chemistry shared by our leads on the “Fresh Air” flight, there isn’t much else to wonder about the film.
The end is predictable from a mile away and its short running time of about 80 minutes means that the suffering isn’t that great.
Easily an avoidable venture, but if you must, wait for it on DVD.
THE LONGEST YARD (SAMICO: 2)
A remake of a film of the same name from the 70s, TLY doesn’t offer much in terms of variety.
Basically a story of a group of convicts who are challenged to a football game by the chief of the guards. Though no Super Bowl is at stake, pride is.
Adam Sandler breezes through the routine and fits the role well. Chris Rock is restrained and surprisingly not irritating. Burt Reynolds makes a cameo and James Cromwell rounds off a fairly illustrious cast that also includes rap-artist Nelly, wrestlers Dalip Singh and Bo Sapp, and ex-footballer Michael Irvin.
Some of the jokes are laugh-worthy but most of them are ordinary.
Watch it if you are a sports fan, an Adam Sandler fan or both, like I am.
MY WIFE’S MURDER (SAMICO: -1)
Anil Kapoor, Nandana Sen (of Black fame), newcomer director Jijy Phillips and an attention-seeking title all made for a potentially enthralling film. After watching it I would probably rename this flick “My Mind’s Murder”!!
Socially irresponsible, a poor script, and shallow underdeveloped characters make for a film that should be put in the pharmacy in the sedatives section.
Anil Kapoor does what he has done a million times and plays a man caught between a rock and a hard place. When he kills his wife by mistake he tries to hoodwink the law, his children, and even his conscience and that basically forms the last 80% of the film.
Suchitra Krishnamurthy as the annoying wife who gets murdered is in a blink-and-you-miss-me role. A far cry from the days when Shah Rukh Khan ran after her in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994) singing “Anna meri aana”, this time Krishnamurthy is deglamorised but effective.
Nandana Sen’s poor diction and even poorer pronunciation of Hindi make her annoying, and we wish the film was titled “My Wife and my Assistant’s murder”!!!
Boman Irani, as the detective investigating the crime, is the only saving grace in this otherwise torturous affair. His character with the voracious appetite and the wife who can’t cook to save her life has the meatiest role, pardon the pun. Even then Irani’s character and his obviously strained marital relationship are given a whole 2 minutes in this 110 minute venture.
Showing how the murder is carried out and how Kapoor covers it up was in my opinion rather socially irresponsible and then with the ending making it seem alright for such an occurrence adds to the social dilemma it places. As we remember the demography of this film’s viewers one wonders whether this was a good idea. I guess it could have been worse.
At no point in the film will you form a bond with any of the characters though during the last 20 minutes as Kapoor goes on the run with his two little children, it will be their peril and confusion that may tug at your heartstrings. When it’s all over you won’t be sure whether you are glad that the children are saved or that the film has actually ended.
Some parts of MWM do salvage it though. Artistically it wasn’t that bad, without any songs there were no hiccups in the narration and running at less than 2 hours was a great plus.
I would avoid this one unless you are an Anil Kapoor fan.
VIRUDDH (SAMICO: 6)
Amitabh Bachchan is back at it, showing his diversity and range and teaching the younger ones how it’s done. Mahesh Manjrekar’s latest offering is another piece that has Manjrekar written all over it.
The story is of a retired couple living in a suburb of Mumbai who deal with the death of their young son when he is murdered and then wrongly framed as a drug dealer.
Viruddh is a story very simply told and makes you feel as if you are watching your neighbor go through the plight that Vidyadhar Patwardhan (Bachchan) and his wife Sumi (brilliantly portrayed by Sharmila Tagore) are experiencing.
The first half of the film revolves around Bachchan and Tagore and their chemistry is amazing. If you are someone whose parents live apart from you and by themselves, especially in India, then this is what you are missing. The friendly fights of who didn’t take their chronic disease medication to the problems with loud, inconsiderate neighbors and the elderly group exercise sessions as well as the once-weekly phone call from the child abroad!
All scenes are so natural that for a while you do feel as if you are peering into your neighbor’s window.
The second half may be the let down of the film. It tries, unavoidably, to pack in too much into it. From the return of the son abroad (small but well-played performance by John Abraham) and his bringing home a “foreign” girl (debut performance by Australian-Indian VJ Anusha Dhanedar) to the eventual murder and wrongful framing of the son, and the inadequacies of the Indian police force make it too much to digest in the 65 minute half.
Mahesh Manjrekar is known to tackle social ills, and effectively at that, in his films. In Viruddh he gets caught between trying to depict elderly parents dealing with a tragic loss and an Indian legal system that deals with corruption in a mediocre, at best, way.
All in all though, the effort is commendable.
Amitabh Bachchan is way above the rest and he eases through this film with a sincere and restrained performance. This one might be the one to bag him an award, despite his heavyweight performances in Black, Sarkar, and Waqt. Watch especially the scene where Bachchan tries to perform laugh-therapy yoga but can’t.
Sharmila Tagore compliments Bachchan perfectly as the retired school principal who has a much stronger personality than her good-natured husband. She gives a sedate performance generally but turns it up a notch when needed to, for instance dealing with the loud mechanics.
John Abraham is charming as the son. He continues to be a very impressive performer with great versatility, and a face that probably makes razor blade companies shudder as he promotes the unshaven look. Anusha Dhanedar is tolerable in her debut film and Sanjay Dutt has a small but pivotal role which he does well.
The narration is aided by no songs, a culture that seems to be widely accepted in Indian films today, and the screenplay and cinematography are good.
Based on strong performances and good interactions between Bachchan and Tagore this is a venture worth a look-see, despite the somewhat clichéd end.
MATRUBHOOMI- A nation without women (SAMICO: -10)
Lots had been said about this art film and I was very excited when I finally, after waiting a while, obtained the DVD.
By the time I was done, and as I type this, I am trying to obtain some anti-emetics.
Many people feel taking a sensitive issue and then making a film on it guarantees the film will be appreciated and garner many awards. But when an issue such as female infanticide is presented in such an amateur and poor way, with little research, embarrassing screenplay and script, and even worse acting, it is an insult to those who have suffered the ill-effects of the topic at hand.
Matrubhoomi starts off really well, that is the first 3 minutes, and then from there on till it ends some 81 minutes later it’s all downhill and even lower and FAST.
The story revolves around the injustices inflicted upon Kalki, the only female living in a string of villages, as a result of presumed female infanticide and how she tries to overcome the perils. Her problems start when her father, for the sake of money, sells her to get married to five brothers, and while she is there she also has to withstand conjugal visits by her father-in-law too. She gets punished for trying to run away and is imprisoned in the barn with the cows. While there she gets raped multiple times by multiple persons including the brothers. Eventually she gets pregnant and that leads to confusion as to who the father is. A subplot of caste differences lead to a gang war, as different people claim fatherhood, and almost everyone but Kalki is killed off. She delivers her child, a girl (surprise surprise), in the climax.
Not only was the acting horrible but the entire script was despicable. Tulip Joshi as Kalki, the so-called protagonist, had almost NO dialogues. Her looks should have said it all, but that was asking too much.
The rest of the cast were a bunch of art film actors who made no lasting impression on anything or anyone.
The characters had little to none of exactly that. Going into anything more would be giving too much time and credit to the film’s technical department.
The backdrop seemed very unreal. Apart from Kalki, the film literally had ZERO females. I find it very hard to believe that she was the only female in that stretch of land and space.
On the DVD cover the film boasts of bagging foreign film and people’s choice awards in Italy and Poland, prompting me to wish my films, when I do make them, NEVER are given that privilege.
The only memorable moments in the film, apart from the end credits, were the scenes with the constipated priest and the low-caste servant who gave him his urine in the form of lemonade to drink.
In hindsight, if I was given the choice I might have rather drank that lemonade than watched Matrubhoomi.
posted by SIAII at 7:31 PM
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